Automobile front-wheel drive mechanism.



. L. K UNS & J. E. CARTER. AUTOMOBILE FRONT WHEEL DRIVE MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5| l9l5.

Patented July 3, 1917.

Y To'al l whom itma'y cameras;

. Jnssn E. Oaa'mmi citizen f;

States, residing atHolt'v'lle" 'in'the county of Imperial and d invented certain i in anyway interfering mechanism;-

' .1 a "One of the'principal'objects ofItheinvens- 1', jtion"'is to pro'vide novel'means for connect;

, 'i hfgtheirontiwheelswith the. driving ower LLOYD s; t me Ann Jnssr n. or 'no-Lfrvinr-n; en sm Al i- 013? ritonr fwnnnt 'nm-vn Macmillan.

Application mantra-nit; itiil-" senhi Io. again.

Be it known that we, Into the "United State 0 Mechanism; and we dohereby declare 'the following to be a full; clear; and exact .desciiption of the invention, such" will on.- able others skilled in the arttogwhich 1t "ertains to make and use the same.

ur invention relates to improvements in :front wheel-drive mechanism for automobiles and-resides in f transniit pow'e'r fromthe engme ofan aut9.-

mobile to'and drive the front wheel without with the. steering whichisof simple construction, reliab e and tical, simple as to the means forconnecting the means against the elements and dust Another object is to generally improve and simplify the construction and operatidn of front wheel drive mechanism of the char acter described'so as to renderit more pracreliable-in operation and more capable of being readily attached to various makes of automobiles without materially increasing the cost of manufacture thereof. The above and additional objects are ac- I complished-by-such means as are illustrated in the accompanyin drawings described in the following specification and then more particularl polnted out in the claim.

With re erence to the drawings, wherein ,fie vhave illustrated the preferred embodi- 'of which similar re ment of our invention as it is reducedto practice, and throughout the several views erence" numerals designate corresponding parts,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the front axle of an automobile showing our invention attached thereto and a portion of the wheel,

Fin. 2 is an enlarzed longitudinal secalifornia; have new and useful mp o evri easing, and I ments in Automobile" Front-Wheel Drive the provision of simple; and 'efiective means that Wlll ,op mte to K. :m B, s.

easiestin operation and capable of being made"compar' ativelysmall. v Another object is to provide a. casing for] hwi t "drive shaft; said casing being arranged to. t'urn'with the'wheel during the steering op} eration and; serving to protect the. c0nnect ling;

. bearing openings 11 construction, efiicient and .tional vi e w 'taken through a. portion ofthe frolt axle showing the connecting; gearing. an a,

I Ortion of 'onefo'ft'he wheels in operat1ve reat1 on, U

' Figi 3 1s a vertical sectional view of the E1g. ,f1 "s a fragmentary side elevation oi gartion of the axle,"and'the casingqi a v ferrmg to the drawings by'characters of referenoe,1 designates as an entirety. the

ends provide a casing 2 tial gearing, not shown. 'Wheels 3 and 4 are operatlvelylassociated with the ends of,

A front axle whichis enlarged-centrally ,of its for the dlifereiv the axle 1' and mounted 'withinfthe" axle which-is hollow. .Oneach 'sidebfjthe casgear housings 7'in' each ofwhich is rotatably m ahollow spherical ,cas i-ng 8r The housing 7 1s constructed-of two. arts and 4 heldtogether by suitable bjo'ltsi'l 0r assembling various parts, which will behaieinaften "more fully p partially holised by the housing 7 -and is formed of two semi spherical sections, said sectionsbeing secured to one another by meanso'f removable fastening elements 9,.

Formed integral with the'casing 8 and enlower 'sides' thereof are hollow -cy indrical trunmons 10 that are extended through ousmg a rotatable drive shaft ;5, upon the outer end of 'which'is 'keyed a beveled 'cog' The outer 'endsfof the axle are en'-:' larged and shaped to -'--.to1m Fsmi' spherical described "The casing. 8 is v formed. at opposite Eoints' ni-the-upper and lower sides of the 71- The outer "ends-zvofthe trunnions 10 are screw threaded and suitable nuts 12 are turned uponsaid outer threaded ends to-secure the casing within the housing-7. The shafts 5 are extended through elongated openings 13 formed in the casin 8, and gears 6 on said shaft are Mounted within the casings 8 and extending outwardly therefrom through openings 14 formed in the casings at points opposite to the openings 13 are which at their inner ends carry vertical rotary shafts 16, the spindles beingextended from the shafts centrally of the ends of said shafts The ends of the shafts 16 are ro;-

thus incase horizontal spindles 15 tatably'mounted within the hollow trun-y' nions 10. A beveled cog gear 17 is loosely mounted upon the shaft 16 adjacent to the lower end of said shaft and meshes with the gears 6', also the beveled cog gear 18 which the shaft 5. The openings 14 f.

-'vent dust or other foreign mat ally connected at its en s with the outer ends of the arms 20. r

A curved arm 23 is carried by one-of the arms 20 and is to be connected with the steering mechanism, not shown, in any suitable manner.

The shaft 5 in rotating rotates the ,gears 3, 17, and 18 which gears are arranged to mesh with one another and since the gears 18 are fixed to the hubs 19 of the w eels 3 and 4, said Wheels will be rotated Upon movement of the arm 23, the arms 20am correspondingly moved and rotate lthe shaft 16. The casings 8 rotate with thefshaft 16..-

This rotation of the casing 8 is m tted by the elongated openings 13 Whic 19 of the wheels 3 and 4 are of. cient size preferably to receive t-hus when the shafts 16 are" spindles 15 are moved and the 4 turned accordingly. The c tect the gears from the elemeh into the casings and clogging In having the casings 8 mad and the sections secured by rem tening elements 9 the casing and easily assembled around By providing the'housings 7 t stren hened' and can be arrang parat-ively small space.

In practice, we have found of our invention, illustrated ings and referred min the above description, as the preferred embodiment, is the most eificient and practical; et realizing that the conditions concurrent with the adoption of our device will necessarily vary, we desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may e resorted to, when required, wit out sacnficing any of the advantages of our invention as claimed.

What is claimed is An automobile front wheel drive mechanism comprising a hollow axle provided with its outer ends enlar ed to form semi spherical housings said ousings provided with oplpositely disposed openings, semispherica casings provided with oppositely disposed hollow trunnions extending through the openings in the housings, vert1cally ex tending shafts journaled in the trunnions, nuts threaded to the ends of the trunnions forming-bearings for the ends of the vertically extending shafts, ears secured to the vertically extending sha ts, said casings provided with openings in one side and slots in the other side thereof, a drive shaft journaled in the axle and extending through the slots of the casings, gears secured to the ends of the drive shaft .and in mesh with first mentioned gears, hubs extending i through the openings in the. casings, gears secured to the hubs and in mesh with first mentioned gears, and steering means ex-- tending through the housings and casings and secured to the vertically extending shafts for turnin the hubs.

In testimony w ereof we afiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses. 

